Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that DAVID GIL-GRANDE, 29, of Manchester, was sentenced today by Senior U.S. District Judge Alfred V. Covello in Hartford to 70 months of imprisonment, followed by four years of supervised release, for trafficking cocaine.

According to court documents and statements made in court, this matter stems from joint law enforcement investigation headed by the FBI’s Northern Connecticut Violent Crimes Task Force and the Hartford Police Department that targeted a drug trafficking organization operating in Hartford’s North End that was distributing crack and powder cocaine. The investigation revealed that GIL-GRANDE received shipments of cocaine, secreted in sealed coffee cans, from Puerto Rico. He then supplied the cocaine to individuals who converted much of it into crack cocaine, and distributed both forms of the drug in the area of Barbour Street in Hartford.

GIL-GRANDE secreted cash generated from his drug trafficking in resealed coffee cans and then shipped the cans back to Puerto Rico. He also drove large amounts of cash to New York City where it would be sent to Puerto Rico. On January 6, 2016, GIL-GRANDE was stopped as he drove to New York. A subsequent search of his vehicle revealed approximately $92,000.

Twenty individuals were charged as a result of the investigation.

GIL-GRANDE has been detained since his arrest on January 21, 2016. On November 8, 2016, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine.

This matter has been investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Northern Connecticut Violent Crimes Task Force, which includes members of the Hartford Police Department, East Hartford Police Department, Connecticut State Police and Connecticut Department of Correction. The Hartford Police Department’s Vice and Narcotics Squad and the Drug Enforcement Administration are providing valuable assistance to the investigation.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian P. Leaming.